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The Music of Lightning Returns Vol. III

December 13th, 2013 by Tony Garsow

Square Enix has uploaded a new batch of music from the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII finale Lightning Returns. This time we explore the third disc of the soundtrack which includes the music of Yusnaan and various other locales set to a video mixed by composer Mitsuto Suzuki. Lightning Returns once again brings together Suzuki, Masashi Hamauzu, and Naoshi Mizuta who bring their own unique musical styles into one soundtrack.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII will release on February 11th in North America and February 14th in Europe. Available for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, PlayStation Network users will be able to download a digital version at release (9.6GB space required). A Collector’s Edition for North America will also be available.

Out of the four major regions in Nova Chrysalia, I think I like the music from Yusnaan and the Wildlands the most.

FF Fan

I think Final Fantasy X was the last FF that had memorable music.

Daniel Masterson

I have to sorely disagree with you. FF XII by Hitoshi Sakimoto is brilliant, and FF XIII was also very good. Also! FF XIV has a great soundtrack as well. Have you been living under a rock? no offense to you sir or madame but I would hardly say FF X was the ‘last’ memorable soundtrack.

Thanks! If you guys have any further suggestions on Disqus feel free to let me know.

FF Fan

When I said memorable I meant it as, I can still hum music that was in FFX, where is the games that followed just didn’t stick in my head. I didn’t say the other games had terrible music. I loved the music in XI and XII but the only song that I can remember was Ronfaure. Games like VII, VIII and IX had no VO and I think because of that, more work went into the music to help give you a feeling about what was going on. To really get you sucked in. The music in XIII never had a track like that for me or XIV.

Also I don’t understand why saying I’m a FF fan means I must love everything. God forbid I don’t like something, I’m no longer a fan. If you find FFXIII to have a more memorable OST then VII, VIII, IX, X and so on, then that’s great. I just don’t feel the same.

Take care.

Tony Garsow

I think it reflects a change in composing styles between series composers.

This isn’t in response to any commenter here in particular, just my thoughts:

Uematsu is wholly a songwriter. That’s now his music in video games comes across. It’s usually like a 40-50 second diddy that you can repeat ad infinitum and not really get bored of. He employs melody much more than the others, and although he’s my favorite of the Final Fantasy composers, there are many times where his compositions lack restraint and the whole thing feels unfocused. A lot of his recent work seems to suffer from this.

When people say the other composers aren’t as memorable, I agree only in the sense that they don’t compose music to ellicit the same emotions. Sakimoto and Hamauzu are absolutely worthy of every praise. Sakimoto’s style is quite different than Uematsu, but it’s so remarkably evocative especially with a live orchestra (Crimson Shroud OST is AMAZING).

Hamauzu is a totally different composer than Uematsu in that he’s much more of an impressionist that will use many elements to evoke a particular feeling rather than going for a base melody (though Blinded by Light is exemplary and after years of hearing of it, it doesn’t feel old). A lot of people dismiss Hamauzu’s stuff as forgettable, but it’s really quite brilliant in a different way. I could not imagine Final Fantasy X without “Wandering Flame” or Final Fantasy XIII without “Will to Fight”. Excellent, excellent stuff.

These composers are all very good at what they do. I still maintain that if Square Enix and even Final Fantasy could point to any particular element as the mascot for its legacy — its the music.

Daniel Masterson

Excellent! Thank you for your input!

Jeels

Don’t forget Shimomura. With XV she will now be an FF composer as well! And looking at the Kingdom Hearts series its arguable that her music is just as memorable as Uematsu’s!

Storm

I loved XIII, XIII-2 and LR soundtracks, I really dont miss Uematsu.

Erry

I’d have to agree, although Yusnaan is 100/100 for me. Absolutely love all the music that plays there.

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